Apparatus for cleaning coke-oven doors and jambs



Feb. 11, 1964 A. L. c'ooK ETAL APPARATUS FOR CLEANING COKE-OVEN DOORSAND JAMES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 10, 1962 Feb. 11, 1964 Filed Odt.10, 1962 A. 1.. COOK ETAL 3,120,668 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING COKE-OVENDOORS AND JAMES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 30 3a 29 a5 a/ 117 so as 3/ i 1F 49 f:Z

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AARON L. coo/r, I JAMES R. 04 v/s and m4 0. SHOCKLEY A Har /ray UnitedStates Patent 3,120,668 AFPARATUS FOR CLEANING COKE-OVEN DOORS AND JAMESAaron L. (Cook, Huntsville, James R. Davis, I-Iueytown, and Ira D.Shockley, Bessemer, Ala, assignors to glnited States Steel Corporation,a corporation of New ersey Filed Oct. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 229,588 9Claims. (Cl. 21)

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for cleaning the sealingsurfaces at the edges of coke oven doors and door jambs.

A conventional coke oven battery includes a series of ovens which haveremovable doors on opposite sides. A pusher machine runs along a trackat one side and a coke guide along a track at the other side. Both thepusher machine and the guide carry mechanically operated door extractorsfor removing and replacing the doors on the respective sides. When acharge of finished coke is taken from an oven, the extractors remove thedoors from the oven at both sides of the battery. The pusher is insertedthrough the opening on the pusher side to push the coke out the openingon the coke side. One problem with self-sealing doors currently in useis that the sealing surfaces at the edges of both the door and door jambmust be cleaned of tarry deposits each time a door is removed. It isknown to equip a pusher machine with mechanical cleaning devices whichscrape off such deposits, but previous arrangements with which we arefamiliar have disadvantages. They require entirely distinct mechanismsfor cleaning the door and the jamb and also a separate scraper for eachindividual surface. Thus they are unduly complicated, and involve anexcessive number of parts.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved cleaningapparatus which enables a single mechanism to clean the sealing surfacesat the edges of both the door and door j amb of a coke oven.

A further object is to provide an improved cleaning apparatus which ismounted on a coke oven door-handling mechanism for cleaning both thedoor and door jamb while the door is removed.

A further object is to provide a cleaning apparatus of the foregoingtype which can be installed on existing equipment without otherwisealtering its structure.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, we haveprovided improved details of structure, a preferred form of which isshown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view partly in section of a portionof a coke oven battery and a doorhandling mechanism equipped with orimproved cleaning apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section on a larger scale on line III of FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view, With parts broken away, of thebrush operating mechanism embodied in our apparatus; and

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal section on line IVIV of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 1 shows a portion of a coke oven battery which includes aplurality of ovens 10. Each oven has a respective removable door 12which seats against a jamb 13. A conventional door handling mechanism,which includes an extractor 14 and a chassis 15, operates along tracks16 alongside the battery. The same chassis carries the pusher machine onthe pusher side or the coke guide on the coke side, neither of which isshown since they are not involved in our invention. The extractor is ofa type which can turn the door 90 about a vertical axis after it isremoved to facilitate cleaning, as known in the art.

3,120,668 Patented Feb. 11, 1964 Our cleaning apparatus includes anauxiliary platform 17 which is fixed to one end of the chassis 15 andcarries a fixed truss support 18. A first vertical shaft 19, is pivotedin aligned upper and lower bearings 20 and 21 carried by truss support18 and platform 17 respectively. Shaft 19 carries a first pivoted truss,section 22. A second vertical shaft 23 is pivoted in aligned collars 24carried by truss section 22. at its free end, and carries a secondpivoted truss section 25. A third vertical shaft 26 is pivoted inaligned collars 27 carried by truss section 25 at its free end. Aplurality of vertically spaced radially extending arms 28 are keyed to,shaft 26. These arms are u-shaped in plan and carry a verticallyextending housing 29 which has an open vertical face at the free ends ofthe arms.

The interior of housing 29 carries a pair of fixed outwardly facingvertically extending gear racks 30 at opposite sides of its closed faceand a similar pair of inwardly facing gear racks 31 at opposite sides ofits open face. We mount a vertically movable brush body 32 withinhousing 29. A pair of inner spur gears 33 are journaled to pins 34 onopposite sides of the brush body 32 and mesh with gear racks 30.Similarly a pair of outer spur gears 35 are journaled to pins 36 onopposite sides of the brush body and mesh with gear racks 31 and withthe inner spur gears 33. We connect a drive chain 37 to lugs 38 at thetop of the brush body and lugs 39 at the bottom. The uppermost arm 28ahas an extension 40 which supports a reversible drive motor 41 andreduction gearing 42. The drive chain 37 extends around a series ofidler sprockets 43 journaled at the top of the housing 29, a drivesprocket 44 connected to the reduction gearing 42, and a series of idlersprockets 45 journaled at the bottom of the housing. Thus the drivemotor 41 can propel the brush body 32 up or down, while the spur andrack gears constrain its relative movement to a vertical path. A rotarybrush 46 extends from brush body through the open face of housing 29 andis driven by a motor housed within the body. The angle of the brush canbe varied by changing the position of the pins 34 and 36. An operatinglever 47 is fixed to one of the arms 28 and carries handles 48 an acontrol panel 49. i

In operation, the door extractor 14 removes the door 12 from an oven 10to enable the coke charge to be pushed from the oven in the usualmanner. The extractor then turns the door on a vertical axis. Anoperator stands on platform 17 and manipulates handles 48 to force thebrush 46 against the sealing surfaces at the edges of the door where thedoor contacts the jamb 13. He moves the brush horizontally along thesealing surfaces at the top and bottom by manually swinging the trusssections 22 and 25 and housing 29 about their respective pivots. Hemoves the brush vertically along the sealing surfaces at the sides byoperating electric switches on the control panel 49. These switchescontrol operation of motor 41 which furnishes the force for moving thebrush vertically. Preferably the operator cleans the door in this mannerwhile the coke charge is being pushed from the oven. Next the chassis 15is moved to a position in which platform 17 is in front of the openoven, as shown in FIG- URE l. The operator again manipulates the handlesand switches in like manner to move the brush around sealing surfaces atthe edges of the jamb. The operator has full control of the cleaningdevice. If there is an unusually heavy deposit at one spot, the operatorcan run the brush over it several times. He can also vary the horizontalangle between the brush and sealing surfaces.

From the foregoing description it is seen that our invention affords asimple apparatus for cleaning both the door and jamb of a coke oven. Theapparatus enables both to be cleaned with a minimum of delay during thepushing operation, and requires the services of only a single operator.The platform and parts mounted thereon are easily attached to existingdoor extractors.

While we have shown and described only a single embodiment of theinvention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, we donot wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scopeof the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The combination, with a door extractor adapted to remove a coke ovendoor from its jamb and a chassis on which said extractor is mounted, ofa cleaning apparatus comprising a platform attached to said chassis, afirst support pivoted on a vertical axis to said platform, a secondsupport pivoted on a vertical axis to said first support, a cleaningelement, means mounting said cleaning element on said second support forvertical movement and pivotal movement on a vertical axis with respectthereto, said cleaning element being positioned for cleaning the sealingsurfaces at the edges of both the door and jamb, and drive meansoperatively connected with said cleaning element for raising andlowering it.

2. The combination, with a door extractor adapted to remove a coke ovendoor from its jamb and a chassis on which said extractor is mounted, ofa cleaning apparatus comprising a platform attached to said chassis, afirst support pivoted on a vertical axis to said platform, a secondsupport pivoted on a vertical axis to said first support, a housingpivoted on a vertical axis to said second support, a cleaning elementmounted in said housing for vertical movement with respect thereto andpositioned for cleaning the sealing surfaces at the edges of both thedoor and jamb, and drive means operatively connected with said cleaningelement for raising and lowering it.

3. The combination with a door extractor adapted to remove a coke ovendoor from its jamb and a chassis on which said extractor is mounted, ofa cleaning apparatus comprising a platform attached to said chassis, afirst support pivoted on a vertical axis to said platform, a secondsupport pivoted on a vertical axis to said first support, a housingpivoted on a vertical axis to said second support and having an openvertical face, a body mounted in said housing for vertical movement andextending through said open face, a cleaning element carried by saidbody and positioned for cleaning the sealing surfaces at the edges ofboth the door and jamb, and drive means operatively connected with saidbody for raising and lowering said cleaning element.

4. A combination as defined in claim 3 in which said cleaning element isa brush.

5. The combination, with a door extractor adapted to remove a coke ovendoor from its jamb and a chassis on which said extractor is mounted, ofa cleaning apparatus comprising a platform attached to said chassis, afirst support pivoted on a vertical axis to said platform, a secondsupport pivoted on a vertical axis to said first support, a plurality ofvertically spaced arms pivoted on a vertical axis to said secondsupport, a housing fixed to said arms and having an open vertical face,a brush body mounted in said housing for vertical movement and extendingthrough said open face, a brush carried by said brush body andpositioned for cleaning the sealing surfaces at the edges of both thedoor and jamb, drive means mounted on one of said arms and operativelyconnected with said brush body for raising and lowering said brush, andcooperating means on said brush body and housing constraining relativemovement of the brush body to a vertical path.

6. A combination as defined in claim 5 in which said drive meansincludes a drive motor mounted on one of said arms, and chains andsprockets operatively connecting said motor and said brush body.

7. A combination as defined in claim 5 in which said drive meansincludes a drive motor mounted on one of said arms, a drive sprocketoperatively connected to said motor, idler sprockets journaled adjacentthe top and bottom of said housing, and a drive chain connected to thetop and bottom of said brush body and extending around said sprockets.

'8. A combination as defined in claim 5 in which the means constrainingrelative movement of said brush body includes gear racks at oppositevertical edges of said housing and spur gears journaled to said brushbody and meshing with each other and with the respective racks.

9. A combination as defined in claim 5 including a lever fixed to saidhousing, operating handles fixed to said lever for manually moving saidbrush horizontally along the sealing surfaces at the top and bottom ofthe door and jamb, and a control panel carrying electric switches foroperating said drive means for moving said brush vertically along thesealing surfaces at the sides of the door and jamb.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,876,472 Rousseau Mar. 10, 1959 2,986,758 Randell et al June 6, 19613,037,227 Randell et al. June 5, 1962

1. THE COMBINATION, WITH A DOOR EXTRACTOR ADAPTED TO REMOVE A COKE OVENDOOR FROM ITS JAMB AND A CHASSIS ON WHICH SAID EXTRACTOR IS MOUNTED, OFA CLEANING APPARATUS COMPRISING A PLATFORM ATTACHED TO SAID CHASSIS, AFIRST SUPPORT PIVOTED ON A VERTICAL AXIS TO SAID PLATFORM, A SECONDSUPPORT PIVOTED ON A VERTICAL AXIS TO SAID FIRST SUPPORT, A CLEANINGELEMENT, MEANS MOUNTING SAID CLEANING ELEMENT ON SAID SECOND SUPPORT FORVERTICAL MOVEMENT AND PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ON A VERTICAL AXIS WITH RESPECTTHERETO, SAID CLEANING ELEMENT BEING POSITIONED FOR CLEANING THE SEALINGSURFACES AT THE EDGES OF BOTH THE DOOR AND JAMB, AND DRIVE MEANSOPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH SAID CLEANING ELEMENT FOR RAISING ANDLOWERING IT.